Jonas
Kaufmann especially admires Placido Domingo and some of that distinguished
veteran's questing intelligence, he played nearly 120 roles on stage and
recorded at least 90 of them, can be found in Kaufmann's newly issued debut
album Romantic Arias. As well as standard Puccini and Verdi he offers some
superb Wagner and Weber, as well as Gounod and Massenet and a particularly
fine account of an unusual aria from Berlioz's Damnation Of Faust. And he is
already learning that same composer's Les Troyens which most singers of his
type would never touch. Nowhere among these 13 items does his reach exceed
his grasp; everything is done with eloquence and impeccable taste. There
will be pressure on him to major on the German repertory particularly the
lighter Wagner roles and given the dearth of competition such stuff could
dominate his time to the exclusion of almost everything else. He says he
won't let it happen and I hope not. On this evidence he is embarking on a
career that could and should embrace anything he chooses from Mozart to
Puccini.